No Matter What
by Star Le Faith
Summary: There are thousands of worlds in this universe. Somehow, in every one, they manage to find each other... no matter what. AndrosAshley.


Disclaimer: Nope. They don't belong to me.

Summery: There are thousands of worlds in this universe. Somehow, in every one, they manage to find each other… no matter what. Andros/Ashley.

Author's Note: Eh. This one's weird. Well, I've seen this done in other fandoms, but not as much here, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's really just two (it was originally going to be three, but whatever) sort of "drabbles" that showcase two different worlds and Andros and Ashley's first meeting in each. In **I**, Andros and Ashley basically just switch roles; Ashley is from KO-35 and Andros is from Earth. In **II**, Ashley was never a Power Ranger, but everything else went the same.

No Matter What

**I. **

Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn't been this. Andros eyed the person warily. When he had seen the yellow suit (complete with mini-skirt), he had been unconsciously formulating his own image of the ranger underneath – someone bright, bubbly, and warmly hospitable, if not naively accepting.

Instead, when the yellow spandex disappeared and the bright flash of yellow faded, he had gotten a poker-faced young woman with thinly pressed lips and hard eyes, hair pulled back in a no-nonsense way.

Andros licked his dry lips, a little taken aback by her.

"You're… You're human."

She cast him a dry look. "No. I'm a lizard."

Cassie snorted softly and approached her, eyes bright. "Well, I'm Cassie. It's nice to meet you."

"Carlos."

"T.J."

Her eyes appraised them before landing on him, still faintly miffed about his earlier comment.

"Er, I'm Andros," he said, extending his hand. She started slightly and her eyes were concentrated on his hand, wariness in her eyes.

"I… They call me… Ashley."

Andros smiled at her, wanting to make up for what he said before.

"Ashley."

She looked at him, and he was momentarily startled by her eyes; soft brown ones that seemed, at first, completely ordinary, but were shadowed with broken hearts and shattered dreams. For a brief moment, he felt like he knew her.

And then it was gone.

Her face closed up again, and she took a half step backwards before turning and walking back towards the ship. The others followed, and Carlos clapped a hand to his back.

"She was… kind of cute, huh?"

Andros rolled his eyes. What had he done to get friends like this?

**II. **

Ashley laughed a little, quietly, concentrating mostly on her fries. It felt good to get out, and have fun, but…

God, did everyone have to always talk about such shallow stuff?

"He's so cute. Oh my god, he's so cute."

"But does he like you? Like, I mean, does he like you, like you like him?"

"Like, who wouldn't?" Ashley broke in, slightly sarcastic, but they all laughed in response. She smiled a little – they were nice, really, and good friends, but not exactly the brightest bulb.

Her eyes wandered over a table near them. Cassie Chan, TJ Johnson, Carlos Valerte, Andrea Smith and… someone new. Someone she had never seen before.

"Hey, guys… who's that?"

"Who, Ash? That Mexican guy? Ooh, he's captain of the soccer team-"

"I… no." Ashley frowned. "That other guy, the one in red."

Her closest friend, Maria, giggled and nudged her. "Does Ashley have a _crush_?"

She blushed and shook her head. "No! I'm just curious – I've never seen him around before."

A blonde cheerleader shrugged. "Just someone who showed up I guess. Now about Mac…"

Ashley bit her lip. Well, she was in the same math class as Carlos, and she did have a question about the assignment… Smiling, Ashley stood and walked over to their table; she couldn't help but note that their voices slowed upon her approach. Her resolve faltered, but she firmly kept her smile on.

"Um, hi. Carlos, right?"

He looked up.

"Oh, hi, Ashley."

"Um, for the math homework, we didn't have to use any proofs, right?"

He seemed confused. "Well, yeah. At least I didn't."

She smiled a little nervously. "Right. Er, I know, this seems weird, and awkward, but I just had that question all day and so I saw you, Carlos, and I thought I'd just ask."

"Well, it's no problem."

"Hi, Ashley," Cassie said, nodding at her. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hey, Cassie. TJ. Andrea."

Cassie perked suddenly. "Hey, Ashley, you haven't met Andros yet, have you?"

_Andros. _It was a beautiful name. Not that she had ever heard of it before…

"No…" She smiled at him. "Hi, Andros. I'm Ashley."

He nodded and turned his head gruffly. Ashley bit her lip and smiled. Maybe she would be shallow, just this once.

* * *

Author's Note::sighs:: As I read that again… it really doesn't seem very A/A does it? The first one is okay, but the second… I mean, Andros doesn't even say anything! But I did write it all in one day, so maybe I'll back and add a III if inspiration hits.

And also, this is my _extremely_ uber-late birthday gift to ROSA, otherwise known as Phantom Rogue! Yes, I know the rest of you have already finished your celebrations, but hey, go ahead and read this just for fun.

And, I also apologize for my extreme lack of updates, but right now I've ended up concentrating on something else, so for this fandom, most likely things are going to end up as birthday gifts or Holiday Specials, since my poor fried brain can't take much else…

But, review if you please and help me feel less guilty for Rosa, since she's been way too good to me!


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